


A Chance Meeting

by MYSTERYstew



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Diego and Grace show up for a second, Fluff, Gen, Just a boy and his dog, No Beta, That's it, that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-16 13:17:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21508567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYSTERYstew/pseuds/MYSTERYstew
Summary: Five goes for a walk, forgets an umbrella, and makes a friend.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Mr. Pennycrumb
Comments: 13
Kudos: 180





	A Chance Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first time posting. It felt good to finally write something out, and honestly I just wanted to write Five meeting Mr. Pennycrumb.  
> Anyway I hope whoever reads this enjoys it!

The clouds above the city swirled about in a threatening manner, promising a pouring rain on unlucky bystanders. Lightning flashed and the underbelly of the clouds grew darker.

Five eyed the sky unhappily. He hadn’t grabbed an umbrella when he left the academy and he was reluctant to turn back to retrieve one. Another minute within its walls and he suspects he would’ve torn through the wall paper and gaudy portraits just to relieve some energy. It wouldn’t have been a great loss, but he knew Luther or Allison would’ve given him a lecture when they got home.

With a sigh he turned back to the streets. They were clear, the obvious threat of rain driving people to stay indoors. It was nice. And Five hated that he thought that at all. He didn’t want to be comfortable with the lack of people, it was too close to saying he missed the apocalypse. But crowds made his shoulders stiff, even being around strangers had him constantly on alert. Overall, he was tired.

It was two months after the apocalypse’s due date, his family was still a bunch of dysfunctional assholes but they were getting better. Vanya was coming to terms with just how messed up Reginald had made all of them, Allison was acting as her primary confidante (it hurt a little to not be able to fill that role, but Five knew he couldn’t be that for her, not now). Luther also seemed to be accepting how shitty Reginald was to them, there were still moments, incredibly frustrating moments where his new insight clashed with his old view of their father. Outside of family events Diego spent all his time with the, once again living, detective he was obsessed with. And Klaus was sober. And could manifest Ben. They all were moving forwards, and Five felt like he was the only one stuck.

His mind constantly wandered to the Apocalypse, always worried it could start up again or that he would wake up and find himself back in the fire and ash filled wasteland he grew old in. It felt as if everyone should be holding their breath but he was the only one doing so. And the Commission had been quiet, no agents tailing the family or hit squads trying to kill them. It was suspicious…

Five forcibly shook himself from those thoughts. He’d run out of the academy to escape them but it seemed as though he was constantly dragging them everywhere like a ball and chain. Thoroughly frustrated with himself, Five watched the street with a carefully blank mind. Another flash of lightning and as if a signal had been given the first drops of rain descended from the heavens. Following on their heels was a loud rumble of thunder that Five could feel in his chest.

And almost drowned out by the tail-end of the thunder was a whine. Five stilled and listened for more noise. The rain was starting to come down harder, the sound of it hitting pavement drowning out ambient noises. Thunder rumbled again and a barely distinguishable whine reached Five’s ears. He turned away from the street and looked at the alley between the two stores behind him.

That was where the noise came from. Five found himself walking into the alleyway without a thought. He stopped at the mouth, reminding himself that impulses like that got you killed, and began searching for threats. This could be an elaborate trap or it could be someone recovering from a night of indulgence. Or maybe he was imagining things, before he left the academy he thought he’d heard Delores so it wasn’t out of the question.

The whine came again, further down near the overflowing dumpster of one store. It didn’t sound human, though Five supposed it could be a baby, it’s not like he had ever been around one long enough to know how they sounded. Or it could be a fake distress call recorded in order to lure him into the alley and into a waiting ambush. Both options seemed likely, Five was unlucky enough for either to happen.

_Whatever it is I can handle it_ , Five decided. With silent steps he approached the target, there was no clicking of a gun or further crying. It was rather anticlimactic when nothing happened. Or it was until something scratched at cardboard.

Five spatial jumped away from the dumpster on instinct, landing ten feet away with one of Diego’s knives at the ready. Nothing jumped out at him though. He had jumped at nothing. Five was glad no one was around to see that fumble.

With an annoyed sigh Five tucked the knife away and jumped back to the dumpster to find out what had caused him such paranoia. There was nothing but putrid smelling bags inside the dumpster, but when he looked between the dumpster and the alley wall there was a soggy cardboard box. The box made the scratching noise again, identifying itself as the source of Five’s paranoid thoughts. Five carefully breathed through just his mouth and leaned closer. At first, he thought it was a rat trapped in the box. The thing was small and scruffy looking, brown fur covered in grime. It whined and Five realized he was looking at a puppy.

The puppy hadn’t spotted him yet, it was busy trying to scratch its way outside the side of the box facing away from him. It felt rude not to let it know he was watching so Five cleared his throat. The sound startled the puppy into jumping, it collided with the side of the box. With the cardboard to its back the little thing cowered away from him. A reaction Five was rather accustomed to, though in this case it was not satisfying.

“Hello.” He softly mumbled, dropping to a crouch and extending a hand into the box. He was careful not to invade the puppy’s corner, Five was well aware of how uncomfortable it was when people invaded personal space without permission.

The puppy didn’t move but Five thought it looked wary rather than outright fearful now. “My name is Number Five Hargreeves, but I prefer Five,” he kept his voice soft, an admittedly rare occurrence but no one was around to hear it besides the trembling puppy.

Said puppy was moving away from its corner to sniff his hand. Whatever it smelled seemed to break down whatever reservations it had because it began licking at his fingers enthusiastically. Five had to resist pulling his hand away so as not to startle the puppy, the feeling of its warm tongue was unexpected but not entirely unpleasant. He was already soaked from the rain anyway; a little slobber wasn’t such a hardship.

Five let the puppy continue its ministrations before cautiously shifting his hand to run it over the puppy’s back. The puppy gave a full body wriggle at the touch, going so far as to put its front paws against the box’s wall in order to get closer. Its short tail whipped against the box to express its pleasure. An unbidden smile made its way onto Five’s face.

Well, Five couldn’t in good conscious leave the puppy in a dirty alley after it cleaned his hand and allowed him to pet it. “Let’s get you out of the rain and warmed up. I know a place with a big fireplace and plenty of kindling,” He whispered conspiratorially. The puppy tried to shuffle closer and whined when the box prevented its advances. Five scooped it out of the box gently. He could feel its bones beginning to stick out of its skin from an apparent lack of nutrition and tutted. “That won’t do, I’m sure I can find something for you at home. I think Grace was going to make steak for Diego tonight, but I’m sure it won’t be missed.” It would be, but Five wasn’t going to say that and make the puppy feel guilty.

The puppy wriggled in his hands and Five worried it was unhappy with the way he was handling it. A warm tongue against his cheek snuffed out such concerns, apparently the puppy simply wanted a better vantage point to lick him from.

They were both soaked from the downpour of rain but Five tucked the puppy into his jacket for shelter because that would be better than leaving it exposed to the elements. The puppy seemed happy with this arrangement going by the gentle licks to the hand Five was holding it with.

Five made his way back home the long way, a spacial jump would be too risky with his new companion. He felt lighter. It was easy to forget his previous thoughts on the apocalypse with a puppy depending on him to take it somewhere safe.

***

The puppy- a _he_ as it turned out -had fallen asleep by the time Five arrived back at the academy. Five’s clothes were waterlogged and dripping, the sound remarkably similar to the rain hitting the ground outside. It was a decidedly uncomfortable feeling to have cold, wet, and _heavy_ clothes hanging off him. He didn’t immediately rush upstairs however, instead he listened carefully for the sound of any of his siblings. Five wasn’t sure how they would react to the presence of a dog in the house; growing up they had never been allowed pets. The closest they got was a stray cat Ben lured indoors before it was thrown out by Reginald.

Diego wouldn’t care, he would probably be happy simply because it would’ve made Reginald angry to have an animal in the house, besides Pogo of course. Klaus would probably be ecstatic and overexaggerated about the puppy; or maybe he was more of a cat person, Five couldn’t remember. The others were unknown: Luther would be the most opposed, Allison and Vanya could very well be neutral on the matter, or they would give him a lecture on how he might not be ready to take care of a _living_ thing and maybe he should focus on his own health first. Five frowned, they never said it so explicitly but their meaning was always clear.

Then there was the other matter. The matter of his reluctance to sharing his new companion with everyone. They all had each other, they were all moving and he was standing still. Maybe it felt a little freeing to have something for himself, his own confidante. That is, if the puppy wanted to stay with him. Five would understand if he wished to part ways after the day was over.

That could be dealt with at a later time however. There was no telltale sounds of footsteps or voices raised, as they often were in the mansion, so Five made his way up the stairs. He planned to head straight for his room but stopped. The puppy was still covered in grime, and surely, he would want to feel clean before dinner. Five raised the puppy out of his jacket so they could see each other properly. “How do you feel about a bath?” he asked. The puppy perked up from its impromptu nap, floppy ears rising. Five chuckled, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

***

There was no dog shampoo so Five had to make do without, but by the end of the puppy’s bath all the grime was gone, so Five considered it a victory. It turned out the puppy was a light tan color as opposed to the brown he originally appeared to be, the only exception to this being his eyebrows and pronounced whiskers which were white. “They make you look very distinguished,” Five informed from his place on the floor of his bedroom. The puppy tilted his head with a questioning look. “Well, you’re a very distinguished looking dog and I can’t continue to call you ‘the puppy’, I think we’ve moved past such misnomers.” The puppy tilted its head the opposite way as if to say, ‘so what?’.

Five cleared his throat, suddenly and uncharacteristically nervous, “So, how about I call you Mr. Pennycrumb?”

The puppy stood up, tail wagging and tried to climb up Five’s front to lick his face. “Okay, okay. I take it that you like the name.” Five picked Mr. Pennycrumb up and allowed him to lick his face. “How about some dinner? And then, if you want, you can stay here with me for the foreseeable future.” Mr. Pennycrumb kept licking Five’s face so he pulled him back to armlength, “I’m serious Mr. Pennycrumb. I know you don’t exactly have anywhere to return to, and besides we have so much room here that it would be no problem if you stayed.”

Mr. Pennycrumb stared at Five seriously, the gravity of the offer seeming to sink in. Then he let out a bark, or rather a high-pitched yip from his puppy sized lungs. Five smiled, “Alright. I believe I promised you a steak dinner?”

***

Diego walked into the kitchen looking for Grace and ready to offer her help with dinner. He paused when his eyes landed on her staring into the fridge, “Mom?”

She turned to look at him, smile warm, “Diego! It’s good to see you home safe.”

“Yeah, I was just dropping Patch off at the station. Is something wrong?” Diego asked.

Grace allowed a small sigh to escape her, “It appears that I’ve misplaced the steak for dinner tonight. Though my memory banks have no recollection of that happening.”

Diego felt the worry claw its way up his chest before he managed to wrestle it back. “Or one of my idiot brothers decided to treat themselves to a nice steak.” It was a far likelier scenario than Grace being on the fritz again.

Grace chided, “Diego, you shouldn’t call your brothers that. They are all exceptionally intelligent.”

Diego quickly apologized, “Sorry Mom.” But he was decidedly un-sorry for what he’d do to whoever took his steak dinner away from him. “We could make breakfast instead?” he offered.

Grace smiled at him, stepping forward to pat his cheek gently, “That’s a wonderful idea. Why don’t you grab the eggs for me and we’ll get started.”


End file.
